Metro FM Robert Marawa boycotting his show in solidarity with his suspended producer.

The SABC is gearing up to “deal” with Metro FM sports presenter Robert Marawa for boycotting his show in solidarity with his suspended producer.On Thursday, Marawa took to social media to vent his frustrations with the public broadcaster for summarily suspending Beverley Maphangwa for playing Sizwe Mabena’s audio in response to views expressed by Baba Nthethwa.

On Friday, SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told City Press that they’d noted the comments Marawa made on social media.“We’ll deal with those comments next week,” he said. Marawa’s producer, Maphangwa, was suspended for non-compliance and contravention of contract.Marawa tweeted: “I told management that I will remove myself from the show because I am the one that actually caused crime. So I’ll not be on tonight.”See his tweets here:Robert Marawa - Curated tweets by Channel24
As if this was not enough, City Press learnt on Wednesday that while Metro FM threw a lavish party at Sandton’s Taboo nightclub to celebrate its new line-up of DJs and shows, some of Metro FM Music Awards winners and performers had not yet been paid. Some irritated guests wondered who footed the bill for the station, amid weekly reports of alleged bankruptcy in the SABC.Guests were served lunch, dinner and drinks until 22:00 and then a cash bar kicked in until after midnight, with other guests moaning that “iSABC ayisafani” – SABC is no longer the same.Winners have not been paidCity Press spoke to one performer and two winners who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear they may be victimised by the broadcaster.They claimed they were surprised to hear that Metro FM had “a massive party”, while they had not yet been paid.“I submitted all the required documents before the Metro FM Music Awards. I am not sure why I haven’t been paid to this day because we were among the first group to submit,” the performer said.One winner told City Press that they hadn’t been paid a cent for the awards they scooped, which is R100 000 per award.“I mean really? Three months later, who wouldn’t have submitted the required documents in time because we all want this money,” the winner asked. Kganyago insisted that the SABC had paid Metro FM winners and performers. When told about those who complained to City Press, he said:“We have paid the winners at Metro FM for the awards, and we do not have a crisis as far as I am concerned. Those that have queries, I do not know what they are all about.”He also sought to explain the Metro FM bash differently saying:“It was not a party at all. We do this annually for our clients at Metro FM, to see our new members of the family.”“What we did was for our clients (advertisers) to introduce them to our new members or presenters,” he said, adding that it was a trade exchange with Taboo and the media was invited as partners, not to cover the event, but to celebrate with the station. “We just wanted to celebrate with our clients. This is the reason we called a few people to celebrate with us. “We did not even take out our money there, and it was just a way to introduce our new shows so that clients also have a chance to pick features that they like,” he added.

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Metro FM Robert Marawa boycotting his show in solidarity with his suspended producer.